Passengers on flight from Spain warned they may have to land at sea

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The plane, on route to the UK from Tenerife, declared an emergency landing due to a fire

Passengers aboard a Ryanair flight from Tenerife to Edinburgh were forced to face their worst nightmares on Sunday May 19 when the pilot reportedly told them the plane might have to make an emergency landing in the sea. He asked everyone to wrap up in warm clothes and to ‘brace themselves’.

The flight left the Spanish island as normal at 8.45pm but the pilot did a quick u-turn after just half an hour when a flight attendant reported that there was a small fire in the cabin. This was communicated to Air Traffic Control, who immediately requested that the Ryanair flight return to Tenerife Airport.

It later transpired that a portable battery in someone’s suitcase overheated and started to smoke in the overhead luggage compartment.

“Half an hour after we took off, the seatbelt sign went back on and I saw the air hostess running up the aisle with a metal box,” one passenger explained.

“Someone had a portable battery, one of those lithium ones, and it had gotten hot and was smoking. I think the battery was in that box.

“The passengers began to panic, it was just awful. But the staff were brilliant. The pilot came out and warned us we might have to make an emergency landing in the sea. He told us to prepare to brace and put on warm clothes.

“We were shown where our life jackets were and were told that we might have to exit on the yellow shoots.”

However, the plane safely touched back down in Tenerife without incident, where a fire crew was waiting. According to Ryanair, the aircraft was inspected by engineers and was cleared to return to service before departing for Edinburgh later that same day.

Image: Ryanair